This invention relates to a vacuum drying apparatus for efficiently drying high-tech components such as components for electronic devices and medical equipment after washing them with water.
Conventionally, high-tech components such as components for electronic devices and medical equipment have generally been washed with solvents such as fluorocarbon, 1.1.1-trichloroethane, or trichloroethylene.
According to the Wien Convention, Montreal Protocol signed in May, 1989, however, it was agreed to totally cancel the use of fluorocarbons by A.D. 2000. Accordingly, the use of the fluorocarbon solvents has been avoided as much as possible and washing with water, which is entirely pollution-free, has been made instead recently. However, washing with water involves the problem that the drying time is longer than washing with the solvents described above.
On the other hand, the high-tech components such as components for electronic devices and medical equipment are produced continuously by automated machine, and come off the line through a washing step generally at a rate of one component per one or two minutes and one component per about 30 seconds in a short case.
Therefore, the greatest future problem will be how efficiently the high-tech components washed with water, the treated articles, can be dried.